Komsomolskaya Pravda: "Putin pays tribute to Locomotive’s memory"
The prime minister appeared on the ice carrying a bouquet of red carnations.
On Saturday, September 10, the Arena-2000 ice stadium in Yaroslavl hosted a lying-in-state for the hockey players of the local Locomotive club killed in a plane crash. Twenty-five coffins were placed on the ice, with the player's portrait propped at each coffin's side. Mournful music played softly as the honour guard stood in silence amid a sea of flowers.
It made my heart ache when I saw it, and I think that the thousands of people who came to the stadium to pay tribute to the athletes killed in the horrible accident felt the same. Dozens of red-and-white Locomotive scarves and flags were seen in the crowd. Since early morning, people waited for three to four hours in the rain to be admitted into the stadium.
Famous hockey keeper Vladislav Tretyak looked devastated, but it was obvious he was holding back tears each time he walked out on the flower-spilled ice to support the relatives and friends of the crash victims. Valentina Tereshkova, the first female astronaut, attended the ceremony. She walked very slowly along the blue lane, stopping to look into the young faces on the players' portraits. She had tears in her eyes.
Vladimir Putin arrived at the arena after one o'clock, walking out on the ice carrying a large bouquet of red carnations. He was accompanied by two Russian hockey legends, Vladislav Tretyak and Vyacheslav Fetisov. Stopping at each coffin, Putin bent down to place some flowers, meeting the bereaved relatives' eyes with deep empathy in his own.
In was indicative of the moment, as the organizers did not even consider restricting entrance to the stadium when Putin arrived; he walked in along with the constantly moving line of people who came to pay their last respects to the young players.
After the ceremony Putin was joined by Tretyak and Fetisov as well as Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Ovechkin and Rene Fasel in a small private room to commemorate the dead athletes.
Alexander Gamov
